Recipes

This dish is part of Andrea's family tradition, and the recipe has been passed on for generations. Only one person of each generation is granted the privelige to learn the process. The idea is that the family has to be together to be able to enjoy this meal. This is just half of the recipe - the second part involves a different stuffing. We will make that once we get closer to Christmas, when @donmahr is coming for dinner at our place.

What seperates this from traditional turkey or chicken recipes is that you remove most of the bones inside the poultry before you stuff it. This reduces cooking time, allows you to fill more stuffing inside and makes it much easier to cut when serving.

Make sure the chicken is completely defrosted before you start. A chicken comes with two openings - the neck cut and the stomach cut. We removed the bones through both holes with a small knife. Be careful with your fingers as it can get slippery. Sew the stomach opening with a thread and needle and leave the chicken to rest on the counter.

We use bread as it makes the consistency right for the stuffing. Be sure you cut the crust and soak it in milk. Fry the onions until transparent, add the sausage, chopped walnuts, muscat nut powder, parsley and soaked bread to the pan. Let it fry for five minutes and remove from the heat. When the mix is cold add two whisked eggs to it. This will make it firm when it bakes.

Set your oven to 180 degrees C and cover a deep baking tray with aluminium foil. "Sit" your chicken on the cutting board and stuff it through the neck opening, until it is completely filled. Sew the last opening and make sure all the holes in the chickens are completely closed.

Butter the chickens and be especially careful to cover the the stitches of the poultry with a lot of butter to help prevent them to open. We also cut some squares of aluminium foil to further cover these areas. At least for half of the cooking time, to protect from the heat. Cook in the oven for approximately 25-30 min until the chicken is golden. Let it cool under aluminium foil and wet kitchen towels for 10-15 minutes, or until you are ready with potatoes or other condiments you are making. Finally you set the oven to max temperature and change to grill or hot air program. Return the chicken to the oven to give it crispy skin again.

Did you try our recipe? Got any questions? Feel free to leave a comment below, or share our site.